Constant pressure: how stormtroopers expand the security zone in Sumy region
A separate Akhmat special forces assault unit is advancing from the junction of the Kursk and Belgorod regions deep into the Sumy region. Fighters characterize their tactics as pushing through — continuous pressure on the enemy until he falters in some area. The goal is to create a buffer zone. While it is not there, it is impossible to talk about the security of the border regions — the enemy has the opportunity to attack peaceful territories. The unit consists of volunteers. The flow of them into the special operation zone does not stop. About who those guys are who continue to join the military ranks of their own free will, and how preparations for the attacks are going on, is in the Izvestia report.
In the fog and darkness
Early morning, before sunrise. The forest. The darkness is like an eyeball. Two vehicles are preparing to be deployed to the position. We need to bring ammunition, food, water, warm clothes, a generator, some building materials and relieve several guys. Preparations for a new assault are on the agenda.
The exhaust pipes smoke in the light of the lanterns. The sleepless fighters are excited, trying to joke and, probably, once again not to think about the upcoming path. There are several tens of minutes ahead under constant threat from the sky, in some places — according to the "postcard". There are shooters with double—barrelled shotguns and machine guns in the bodies.
Before sending the vehicles to the positions - early morning
— "Boxes" (cars. — Ed.) Let's move! — the order follows, and the cars disappear in the direction of Sumy region with their headlights off.
Control over the movement of the "boxes", as well as the entire situation in the assigned area, is carried out at the detachment's control center. The senior deputy commander of the unit is Aslan, the call sign is Nimble. The Highlander commander, who was repeatedly wounded, is undergoing rehabilitation.
"We're crushing them. And we keep the pressure down ourselves," Nimble tells me. — Moving forward takes place in fog, in the dark, or in the "gray" when the "birds" from above do not see. In small steps to reduce losses. And so it goes, square by square, from forest belt to forest belt.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are well entrenched, Aslan explains. Fields and landings are constantly being mined, including by scattering shells from the sky. The ground rings with metal. Among the insidious inventions of recent times are homemade Velcro fasteners that break when any metal object approaches. The tactics of overcoming such barriers are dense shelling of areas, the creation of safe, mine—free narrow corridors and the subsequent assault by small groups.
Deputy commander of the detachment Aslan Shustry (right) and Apaches from Dagestan
— The most important thing is to get close to their fortifications. And then we'll pick it up," the commander explains.
Aslan himself is from Grozny. He worked in the traffic police, retired major. On its own since March 2022. I passed Popasnaya, Svetlodarsk, Kurdyumovka. Since August 2024, together with the detachment, he has liberated the border areas of the Kursk region, including the villages of Russian Porechnoye and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye (he calls them the most difficult areas of fighting in all previous years). For one of the episodes last March, he received the Order of Courage. Together with the group, they revealed the "secret" of the enemy, from where the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted aerial reconnaissance and transmitted all information about the movement of our troops to their headquarters. The masked fortification was blocked, and the militants were destroyed.
From the office to the front line
The number of volunteers on the SVO is not running out. The Highlander's squad is a prime example of this. Replenishment is constant here.
Among those who work at the headquarters is a fighter with the call sign Fish. He is from Moscow, a former employee of the presidential administration of Russia. For two years he worked in the Office for the Consideration of citizens' appeals. Together with his colleagues, he answered letters addressed to the head of state, and up to 6 thousand letters were received per day. He held personal receptions — 20-25 meetings with people who come with their troubles from all over Russia. As the volunteer notes, none of the appeals were ignored, they tried to sort out each one and give the recipient a detailed answer.
Volunteer from Moscow, call sign Fish
— 70% of the letters today are related to their own, with a variety of issues. This was the impetus to go to serve," says the interlocutor. — I decided that in order to better understand the situation and the existing problems, I should see everything with my own eyes. Well, and bring benefits whenever possible. The authorities, of course, were surprised, but they let me go. He asked me not to stay long and to come back. I decided to limit myself to a four-month contract.
Fish is appreciated in the squad. They say it's like having no hands without him now. Extremely responsible, responsive, understands everything. They don't want to let go. The fighter has served in a variety of positions — as a medical assistant, signalman, warehouse supervisor, and digger (digging dugouts). I have repeatedly traveled to the front line: a unit is a mechanism where everyone constantly replaces each other. He's been helping the Chief of Staff for the last month. Including the paperwork he's used to.
Another volunteer, the same age as Pisces, is an Avarian named Sydyk, call sign Apache, from the Tsumadinsky district of Dagestan. He served in the police for nine years, in a special firing group, catching terrorists in the woods. On its OWN since 2023. He says that from his ancestral village, where only a hundred families live, 20 men went to their homes.
— It was a matter of honor for me. And the principle," says Sadiq. — I saw the Wahhabi attack on Dagestan in 1999. My father joined the militia then and resisted the militants. He went out into the night with a gun along with others. He came back one day and I saw that he was covered in blood. I was about six years old. And I dreamed of being like him. Now I can say that my dream has come true.
It is noteworthy that now his father has followed in his son's footsteps. Last year, after turning 55, inspired by the example of his heir, he also volunteered for his military service.
The brothers from Angara
The commander of the assault squad in the detachment is 39—year-old Vladimir, call sign Kuzya. I came from the Kezhemsky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, from Angara itself. A 1st class driver, he has been driving all over the country for many years as a trucker.
Two drivers, two brothers - The Wind and Kuzya (on the right)
In 2025, I decided: it's time for FREEDOM. The reasons are that many of my friends and fellow countrymen have already signed the contract. Besides, he has a lot of combat experience — he served in Chechnya for seven years. He signed a four-month contract with Akhmat. "And where there's a first contract, there's a second one," Vladimir laughs. He regularly takes up positions as a driver. Three days ago, when he was delivering artillery shells to a point in the Urals, he was unexpectedly attacked by a drone. I managed to turn to the side, the UAV went tangentially. Earlier, I was hit by a swarm of drones, and the shooters in the back — two guys from Yakutia — hit four of them one after the other (the only sounds were pops). However, then a dozen more arrived.
Kuzi's second cousin Alexey is fighting in the Highlander's squad, the call sign is the Wind. From there, from the Hangar. In civilian life, he is a logging truck driver. He's been at the front since 2022, a volunteer. He was near Maryinka, Kurdyumovka, Kleshcheyevka as a sniper and an attack aircraft. Today, among other things, he commands an autobot.
Eight flights in a row
Under the direction of the Wind, the driver is a Kid (1.98 m tall). A resident of Luhansk who took up arms in 2014, being a recent graduate of the school. Today, the Kid just got behind the wheel of one of the cars that went to the front line.
Lugansk Kid, went to war at the age of 18
"I've been traveling eight times in a row over the past week," he managed to inform me before sending me. — When you go there, you think about the guys, how to get them water and bread, it's the hardest for them. It's like saving a whole car and coming back alive. There is no such thing as a simple road. All the gas has to be squeezed out. Sometimes we get stuck, we get stuck in a rut dug by heavy machinery. Then the second car comes to the rescue. Double risk, but what to do? If she doesn't pull it out, fighters from nearby positions rush to the rescue, even if they have to run 1-2 km.
Birthday cake for the guys on the front line
Meanwhile, it becomes known at the control center that the sky is "dirty" on the contact line — the Baba Yaga is rumbling and the FPV is buzzing. The crews report that they have reached their positions and unloaded. But it soon becomes known that one of the cars was attacked by kamikaze drones. The most experienced shooter, Gavrila Yakut, call sign — Birch, hit one UAV with his gun. The second one also managed to damage the shotgun, but the "bird" exploded next to the car, not without damage.
A hereditary hunter from Yakutia, Gavrila Bereza
After an hour, everyone will return safe and sound. And as if even without much fright.
"We'll forget about it by tonight." There's no time to pay attention," the returning fighters will tell me.
After all, a new day and a new job are coming soon.
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